1And the king sent them and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2And the king went up to the house of Jehovah with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their ears all the Words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah. 3Then the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before Jehovah, to follow Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the Words of this covenant that were written in this Book. And all the people stood for the covenant. 4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of Jehovah all the articles that were made for Baal, for the grove, and for all the host of the heavens; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5And he put an end to the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had dedicated to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the zodiac, and to all the host of the heavens. 6And he brought out the grove from the house of Jehovah, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and pulverized the ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the sons of the people. 7And he tore down the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving shelters for the grove. 8And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to one's left of the city gate. 9Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren. 10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the official who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12The altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king beat them down and ran and hurled their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtaroth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. 14And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and chopped down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. 15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made, by which he had made Israel to sin, both that altar and the high place he tore down; and he burned the high place and pulverized it to dust, and burned the grove. 16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the Word of Jehovah which the man of God had proclaimed, who had proclaimed these things. 17Then he said, What monument is this that I see? And the men of the city said to him, It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel. 18And he said, Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that had come from Samaria. 19And Josiah also took away all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done at Bethel. 20And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem. 21And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant. 22Surely such a Passover had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel nor the kings of Judah. 23It was in the eighteenth year of King Josiah that this Passover was observed unto Jehovah in Jerusalem. 24Moreover Josiah put away the mediums and fortunetellers, the household images and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the Words of the Law which were written in the Book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah. 25And before him there was no king like him, who turned to Jehovah with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him has any arisen like him. 26Nevertheless Jehovah had not turned from His great burning wrath, with which His anger had been kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27And Jehovah said, I will also remove Judah from before My face, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I had said, My name shall be there. 28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. 29In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went out to meet him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. 30And his servants made him ride dead from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. 31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done. 33And Pharaoh Necho put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and he came to Egypt, and he died there. 35And Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money at the mouth of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 Josiah had received a message from God that there was no preventing the ruin of Jerusalem, but that he should deliver only his own soul; yet he did not therefore sit down in despair, and resolve to do nothing for his country because he could not do all he would. No, he would do his duty, and then leave the event to God. A public reformation was the thing resolved on; if any thing could prevent the threatened ruin it must be that; and here we have the preparations for that reformation. 1. He summoned a general assembly of the states, the elders, the magistrates or representatives of Judah and Jerusalem, to meet him
in the house of the Lord, with the priests and prophets, the ordinary and extraordinary ministers, that, they all joining in it, it might become a national act and so be the more likely to prevent national judgments; they were all called to attend (
2Kgs 23:1,
2Kgs 23:2), that the business might be done with the more solemnity, that they might all advise and assist in it, and that those who were against it might be discouraged from making any opposition. Parliaments are no diminution at all to the honour and power of good princes, but a great support to them. 2. Instead of making a speech to this convention, he ordered the book of the law to be read to them; nay, it should seem, he read it himself (
2Kgs 23:2), as one much affected with it and desirous that they should be so too. Josiah thinks it not below him to be a reader, any more than Solomon did to be a preacher, nay, and David himself to be a door-keeper in the house of God. Besides the convention of the great men, he had a congregation of the
men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to hear the law read. It is really the interest of princes to promote the knowledge of the scriptures in their dominions. If the people be but as stedfastly resolved to obey by law as he is to govern by law, the kingdom will be happy. All people are concerned to know the scripture, and all in authority to spread the knowledge of it. 3. Instead of proposing laws for the confirming of them in their duty, he proposed an association by which they should all jointly engage themselves to God,
2Kgs 23:3. The book of the law was the book of the covenant, that, if they would be to God a people, he would be to them a God; they here engage themselves to do their part, not doubting but that then God would do his. (1.) The covenant was that they should walk after the Lord, in compliance with his will, in his ordinances and his providences, should answer all his calls and attend all his motions - that they should make conscience of all his commandments, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, and should carefully observe them
with all their heart and all their soul, with all possible care and caution, sincerity, vigour, courage, and resolution, and so fulfil the conditions of this covenant, in dependence upon the promises of it. (2.) The covenanters were, in the first place, the king himself, who stood by his pillar (
2Kgs 11:14) and publicly declared his consent to this covenant, to set them an example, and to assure them not only of his protection but of his presidency and all the furtherance his power could give them in their obedience. It is no abridgment of the liberty even of princes themselves to be in bonds to God.
All the people likewise
stood to the covenant, that is, they signified their consent to it and promised to abide by it. It is of good use to oblige ourselves to our duty with all possible solemnity, and this is especially seasonable after notorious backslidings to sin and decays in that which is good. He that bears an honest mind does not shrink from positive engagements: fast bind, fast find.
4 We have here an account of such a reformation as we have not met with in all the history of the kings of Judah, such thorough riddance made of all the abominable things and such foundations laid of a glorious good work; and here I cannot but wonder at two things: - 1. That so many wicked things should have got in, and kept standing so long, as we find here removed. 2. That notwithstanding the removal of these wicked things, and the hopeful prospects here given of a happy settlement, yet within a few years Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, and even this did not save it; for the generality of the people, after all, hated to be reformed.
The founder melteth in vain, and therefore
reprobate silver shall men call them, Jer 6:29,
Jer 6:30. Let us here observe,
I. What abundance of wickedness there was, and had been, in Judah and Jerusalem. One would not have believed it possible that in Judah, where God was known - in Israel, where his name was great - in Salem, in Sion, where his dwelling place was, such abominations should be found as here we have an account of. Josiah had now reigned eighteen years, and had himself set the people a good example, and kept up religion according to law; and yet, when he came to make inquisition for idolatry, the depth and extent of the dunghill he had to carry away appeared almost incredible. 1. Even in the house of the Lord, that sacred temple which Solomon built, and dedicated to the honour and for the worship of the God of Israel, there were found vessels, all manner of utensils, for the worship of Baal,
and of the grove (or
Ashtaroth ), and
of all the host of heaven, 2Kgs 23:4. Though Josiah had suppressed the worship of idols, yet the utensils made for that worship were all carefully preserved, even in the temple itself, to be used again whenever the present restraint should be taken off; nay, even the grove itself, the image of it, was yet standing in the temple (
2Kgs 23:6); some make it the image of Venus, the same with Ashtaroth. 2. Just
at the entering in of the house of the Lord was a stable for horses kept (would you think it?) for a religious use; they were holy horses,
given to the sun (
2Kgs 23:11), as if he needed them who
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race (
Pss 19:5), or rather they would thus represent to themselves the swiftness of his motion, which they much admired, making their religion to conform to the poetical fictions of the chariot of the sun, the follies of which even a little philosophy, without any divinity, would have exposed and made them ashamed of. Some say that those horses were to be led forth in pomp every morning to meet the rising sun, others that the worshippers of the sun rode out upon them to adore the rising sun; it should seem that they drew the chariots of the sun, which the people worshipped. Strange that ever men who had the written word of God among them should be thus
vain in their imaginations! 3. Hard
by the house of the Lord there were
houses of the Sodomites, where all manner of lewdness and filthiness, even that which was most unnatural, was practised, and under pretence of religion too, in honour of their impure deities. Corporal and spiritual whoredom went together, and the vile affections to which the people were given up were the punishment of their vain imaginations. Those that dishonoured their God were justly left thus to dishonour themselves,
Roma 1:24, etc. There were women that
wove hangings for the grove (
2Kgs 23:7), tents which encompassed the image of Venus, where the worshippers committed all manner of lewdness, and this
in the house of the Lord. Those did ill that made our Father's house a house of merchandise; those did worse that made it a den of thieves; but those did worst of all that made it (
Horrendum dictu! -
Horrible to relate! ) a brothel, in an impudent defiance of the holiness of God and of his temple. Well might the apostle call them
abominable idolatries. 4. There were many idolatrous altars found (
2Kgs 23:12), some in the palace,
on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz. The roofs of their houses being flat, they made them their high places, and set up altars upon them (
Jer 19:13;
Zeph 1:5), domestic altars. The kings of Judah did so: and, though Josiah never used them, yet to this time they remained there. Manasseh had built altars for his idols in the house of the Lord. When he repented he removed them, and
cast them out of the city (
2Chr 33:15), but, not destroying them, his son Amon, it seems, had brought them again into the courts of the temple; there Josiah found them, and thence he
broke them down, 2Kgs 23:12. 5. There was
Tophet, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, very near Jerusalem, where the image of Moloch (that god of unnatural cruelty, as others were of unnatural uncleanness) was kept, to which some sacrificed their children, burning them in the fire, others dedicated them, making them to pass through the fire (
2Kgs 23:10),
labouring in the very fire, Hab 2:13. It is supposed to have been called
Tophet from
toph, a drum, because they beat drums at the burning of the children, that their shrieks might not be heard. 6. There were
high places before Jerusalem, which
Solomon had built, 2Kgs 23:13. The altars and images on those high places, we may suppose, had been taken away by some of the preceding godly kings, or perhaps Solomon himself had removed them when he became a penitent; but the buildings, or some parts of them, remained, with other high places, till Josiah's time. Those that introduce corruptions into religion know not how far they will reach nor how long they will last. Antiquity is no certain proof of verity. There were also high places all the kingdom over, from
Geba to Beer-sheba (
2Kgs 23:8), and
high places of the gates, in the entering in of the gate of the governor. In these high places (bishop Patrick thinks) they burnt incense to those tutelar gods to whom their idolatrous kings had committed the protection of their city; and probably the governor of the city had a private altar for his
penates -
his household-gods. 7. There were idolatrous priests, that officiated at all those idolatrous altars (
2Kgs 23:5), chemarim, black men, or that wore black. See
Zeph 1:4. Those that sacrificed to Osiris, or that wept for Tammuz (
Ezek 8:14), or that worshipped the infernal deities, put on black garments as mourners. These idolatrous priests the kings of
Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places; they were, it should seem, priests of the house of Aaron, who thus profaned their dignity, and there were others also who had no right at all to the priesthood, who burnt incense to Baal. 8. There were conjurers and wizards, and such as
dealt with familiar spirits, 2Kgs 23:24. When they worshipped the devil as their god no marvel that they consulted him as their oracle.
II. What a full destruction good Josiah made of all those relics of idolatry. Such is his zeal for the Lord of hosts, and his holy indignation against all that is displeasing to him, that nothing shall stand before him. The law was that the monuments of the Canaanites' idolatry must be all destroyed (
Deut 7:5), much more those of the idolatry of the Israelites, in whom it was much more impious, profane, and perfidious. 1. He ordered Hilkiah, and the other priests, to clear the temple. This was their province,
2Kgs 23:4. Away with all the vessels that were made for Baal. They must never be employed in the service of God, no, nor reserved for any common use; they must all be burnt, and the ashes of them carried to Bethel. That place had been the common source of idolatry, for there was set up one of the calves, and, that lying next to Judah, the infection had thence spread into that kingdom, and therefore Josiah made it the lay-stall of idolatry, the dunghill to which he carried the filth and offscouring of all things, that, if possible, it might be made loathsome to those that had been fond of it. 2. The idolatrous priests were all put down. Those of them that were not of the house of Aaron, or had sacrificed to Baal or other false gods, he put to death, according to the law,
2Kgs 23:20. He
slew them upon their own altars, the most acceptable sacrifice that ever had been offered upon them, a sacrifice to the justice of God. Those that were descendants from Aaron, and yet had burnt incense in the high places, but to the true God only, he forbade ever to approach the altar of the Lord; they had forfeited that honour (
2Kgs 23:9): He
brought them out of the cities of Judah (
2Kgs 23:8), that they might not do mischief in the country by secretly keeping up their old idolatrous usages; but he allowed them to
eat of the unleavened bread (the bread of the meat-offering,
Lev 2:4,
Lev 2:5)
among their brethren, with whom they were to reside, that being under their eye they might be kept from doing hurt and taught to do well; that bread, that unleavened bread (heavy and unpleasant as it was), was better than they deserved, and that would serve to keep them alive. But whether they were permitted to eat of all the sacrifices, as blemished priests were (
Lev 21:22), which is called, in general,
the bread of their God, may be justly questioned. 3. All the images were broken to pieces and burnt. The image of the grove (
2Kgs 23:6), some goddess or other, was reduced to ashes, and the
ashes cast upon the graves of the common people (
2Kgs 23:6), the common burying-place of the city. By the law a ceremonial uncleanness was contracted by the touch of a grave, so that in casting them here he declared them most impure, and none could touch them without thereby making themselves unclean.
He cast it into the graves (so the Chaldee), intimating that he would have all idolatry buried out of his sight, as a loathsome thing, and forgotten, as dead men are out of mind,
2Kgs 23:14. He
filled the places of the groves with the bones of men; as he carried the ashes of the images to the graves, to mingle them with dead men's bones, so he carried dead men's bones to the places where the images had been, and put them in the room of them, that, both ways, idolatry might be rendered loathsome, and the people kept both from the dust of the images and from the ruins of the places where they had been worshipped. Dead men and dead gods were much alike and fittest to go together. 4. All the wicked houses were suppressed, those nests of impiety that harboured idolaters, the houses of the Sodomites,
2Kgs 23:7. Down with them, down with them, rase them to the foundations. The high places were in like manner broken down and levelled with the ground (
2Kgs 23:8), even that which belonged to the governor of the city; for no man's greatness or power may protect him in idolatry or profaneness. Let governors be obliged, in the first place, to reform, and then the governed will be the sooner influenced. He defiled the high places (
2Kgs 23:8 and again
2Kgs 23:13), did all he could to render them abominable, and put the people out of conceit with them, as Jehu did when he made the house of Baal a draught-house,
2Kgs 10:27. Tophet, which, contrary to other places of idolatry, was in a valley, whereas they were on hills or high places, was likewise defiled (
2Kgs 23:10), was made the burying-place of the city. Concerning this we have a whole sermon,
Jer 19:1,
Jer 19:2, etc., where it is said,
They shall bury in Tophet, and the whole city is threatened to be made like Tophet. 5. The horses that had been given to the sun were taken away and put to common use, and so were delivered from the vanity to which they were made subject; and the chariots of the sun (what a pity was it that those horses and chariots should be kept as the chariots and horsemen of Israel!) he burnt with fire; and, if the sun be a flame, they never resembled him so much as they did when they were chariots of fire. 6. The workers with familiar spirits and the wizards were put away,
2Kgs 23:24. Those of them that were convicted of witchcraft, it is likely, he put to death, and so deterred others from those diabolical practices. In all this he had a sincere regard to
the words of the law which were written in the book lately found,
2Kgs 23:24. He made that law his rule and kept that in his eye throughout this reformation.
III. How his zeal extended itself to the cities of Israel that were within his reach. The ten tribes were carried captive and the Assyrian colonies did not fully people the country, so that, it is likely, many cities had put themselves under the protection of the kings of Judah,
2Chr 30:1;
2Chr 34:6. These he here visits, to carry on his reformation. As far as our influence goes our endeavours should go to do good and bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end.
1. He defiled and demolished Jeroboam's altar at Bethel, with the high place and the grove that belonged to it,
2Kgs 23:15,
2Kgs 23:16. The golden calf, it should seem, was gone (
thy calf, O Samaria! has cast thee off ), but the altar was there, which those that were wedded to their old idolatries made use of still. This was, (1.) Defiled,
2Kgs 23:16. Josiah, in his pious zeal, was ransacking the old seats of idolatry, and spied the sepulchres in the mount, in which probably the idolatrous priests were buried, not far from the altar at which they had officiated, and which they were so fond of that they were desirous to lay their bones by it; these he opened, took out the bones, and
burnt them upon the altar, to show that thus he would have done by the priests themselves if they had been alive, as he did by those whom he found alive,
2Kgs 23:20. Thus he polluted the altar, desecrated it, and made it odious. It is threatened against idolaters (
Jer 8:1,
Jer 8:2) that
their bones shall be spread before the sun; that which is there threatened and this which is here executed (bespeaking their
iniquity to be upon their bones, Ezek 32:27) are an intimation of a punishment after death, reserved for those that live and die impenitent in that or any other sin; the burning of the bones, if that were all, is a small matter, but, if it signify the torment of the soul in a worse flame (
Luke 16:24), it is very dreadful. This, as it was Josiah's act, seems to have been the result of a very sudden resolve; he would not have done it but that he happened to turn himself, and spy the sepulchres; and yet it was foretold above 350 years before, when this altar was first built by Jeroboam,
1Kgs 13:2. God always foresees, and has sometimes foretold as certain, that which yet to us seems most contingent.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; king Josiah's was so, and he turned it (or ever he himself was aware,
Cant 6:12) to do this. No work of God shall fall to the ground. (2.) It was demolished. He broke down the altar and all its appurtenances (
2Kgs 23:15), burnt what was combustible, and, since an idol is nothing in the world, he went as far towards the annihilating of it as he could; for he
stamped it small to powder and made it
as dust before the wind. 2. He destroyed all the houses of the high places, all those synagogues of Satan that were
in the cities of Samaria, 2Kgs 23:19. These the kings of Israel built, and God raised up this king of Judah to pull them down, for the honour of the ancient house of David, from which the ten tribes had revolted; the priests he justly made sacrifices
upon their own altars, 2Kgs 23:20.
3. He carefully preserved the sepulchre of that man of God who came from Judah to foretel this, which now a king who came from Judah executed. This was that good prophet who
proclaimed these things against the altar of Bethel, and yet was himself slain by a lion for disobeying the word of the Lord; but to show that God's displeasure against him went no further than his death, but ended there, God so ordered it that when all the graves about his were disturbed his was safe (
2Kgs 23:17,
2Kgs 23:18) and no man moved his bones. He had entered into peace, and therefore should rest in his bed,
Isa 57:2. The old lying prophet, who desired to be buried as near him as might be, it should seem, knew what he did; for his dust also, being mingled with that of the good prophet, was preserved for his sake; see
Num 23:10.
IV. We are here told what a solemn passover Josiah and his people kept after all this. When they had cleared the country of the old leaven they then applied themselves to the keeping of the feast. When Jehu had destroyed the worship of Baal, yet he took no heed to walk in the commandments and ordinances of God; but Josiah considered that we must learn to do well, and no
only cease to do evil, and that the way to keep out all abominable customs is to keep up all instituted ordinances (see
Lev 18:30), and therefore he commanded all the people to keep the passover, which was not only a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, but a token of their dedication to him that brought them out and their communion with him. This he found written in the
book of the law, here called
the book of the covenant; for, though the divine authority may deal with us in a way of absolute command, divine grace condescends to federal transactions, and therefore he observed it. We have not such a particular account of this passover as of that in Hezekiah's time, 2 Chr. 30. But, in general, we are told that
there was not holden such a passover in any of the foregoing reigns, no, not
from the days of the judges (
2Kgs 23:22), which, by the way, intimates that, though the account which the book of Judges gives of the state of Israel under that dynasty looks but melancholy, yet there were then some golden days. This passover, it seems, was extraordinary for the number and devotion of the communicants, their sacrifices and offerings, and their exact observance of the laws of the feast; and it was not now as in Hezekiah's passover, when many communicated that were not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary, and the Levites were permitted to do the priests' work. We have reason to think that during all the remainder of Josiah's reign religion flourished and the feasts of the Lord were very carefully observed; but in this passover the satisfaction they took in the covenant lately renewed, the reformation in pursuance of it, and the revival of an ordinance of which they had lately found the divine original in the book of the law, and which had long been neglected or carelessly kept, put them into great transports of holy joy; and God was pleased to recompense their zeal in destroying idolatry with uncommon tokens of his presence and favour. All this concurred to make it a distinguished passover.
25 Upon the reading of these verses we must say, Lord, though
thy righteousness be
as the great mountains - evident, conspicuous, and past dispute, yet
thy judgments are a great deep, unfathomable and past finding out,
Pss 36:6. What shall we say to this?
I. It is here owned that Josiah was one of the best kings that ever sat upon the throne of David,
2Kgs 23:25. As Hezekiah was a non-such for faith and dependence upon God in straits (
2Kgs 18:5), so Josiah was a non-such for sincerity and zeal in carrying on a work of reformation. For this there was none like him, 1. That he
turned to the Lord from whom his fathers had revolted. It is true religion to turn to God as one we have chosen and love. He did what he could to turn his kingdom also to the Lord. 2. That he did this
with his heart and soul; his affections and aims were right in what he did. Those make nothing of their religion that do not make heart-work of it. 3. That he did it with
all his heart, and
all his soul, and
all his might - with vigour, and courage, and resolution: he could not otherwise have broken through the difficulties he had to grapple with. What great things may we bring to pass in the service of God if we be but lively and hearty in it! 4. That he did this
according to all the law of Moses, in an exact observance of that law and with an actual regard to it. His zeal did not transport him into any irregularities, but, in all he did, he walked by rule.
II. Notwithstanding this he was cut off by a violent death in the midst of his days, and his kingdom was ruined within a few years after. Consequent upon such a reformation as this, one would have expected nothing but the prosperity and glory both of king and kingdom; but, quite contrary, we find both under a cloud. 1. Even the reformed kingdom continues marked for ruin. For all this (
2Kgs 23:26)
the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath. That is certainly true, which God spoke by the prophet (
Jer 18:7,
Jer 18:8), that if a nation, doomed to destruction,
turn from the evil of sin, God will
repent of the evil of punishment; and therefore we must conclude that Josiah's people, though they submitted to Josiah's power, did not heartily imbibe Josiah's principles. They were turned by force, and did not voluntarily
turn from their evil way, but still continued their affection for their idols; and therefore he that knows men's hearts would not recall the sentence, which was, That Judah should be removed, as Israel had been, and Jerusalem itself cast off,
2Kgs 23:27. Yet even this destruction was intended to be their effectual reformation; so that we must say, not only that the criminals had filled their measure and were ripe for ruin, but also that the disease had come to a crisis, and was ready for a cure; and this shall be all the fruit, even the taking away of sin. 2. As an evidence of this, even the reforming king is cut off in the midst of his usefulness - in mercy to him, that he might not see the evil which was coming upon his kingdom, but in wrath to his people, for his death was an inlet to their desolations. The king of Egypt waged war, it seems, with the king of Assyria: so the king of Babylon is now called. Josiah's kingdom lay between them. He therefore thought himself concerned to oppose the king of Egypt, and check the growing, threatening, greatness of his power; for though, at this time, he protested that he had no design against Josiah, yet, if he should prevail to unite the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates, the land of Judah would soon be overflowed between them. Therefore
Josiah went against him, and was killed in the first engagement,
2Kgs 23:29,
2Kgs 23:30. Here, (1.) We cannot justify Josiah's conduct. He had no clear call to engage in this war, nor do we find that he asked counsel of God by urim or prophets concerning it. What had he to do to appear and act as a friend and ally to the king of Assyria?
Should he help the ungodly and love those that hate the Lord? If the kings of Egypt and Assyria quarrelled, he had reason to think God would bring good out of it to him and his people, by making them instrumental to weaken one another. Some understand the promise made to him that he should
come to his grave in peace in a sense in which it was not performed because, by his miscarriage in this matter, he forfeited the benefit of it. God has promised to keep us
in all our ways; but, if we go out of our way, we throw ourselves out of his protection. I understand the promise so as that I believe it was fulfilled, for he
died in peace with God and his own conscience, and saw not, nor had any immediate prospect of, the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; yet I understand the providence to be a rebuke to him for his rashness. (2.) We must adore God's righteousness in taking away such a jewel from an unthankful people that knew not how to value it. They greatly lamented his death (
2Chr 35:25), urged to it by Jeremiah, who told them the meaning of it, and what a threatening omen it was; but they had not made a due improvement of the mercies they enjoyed by his life, of which God taught them the worth by the want.
31 Jerusalem saw not a good day after Josiah was laid in his grave, but one trouble came after another, till within twenty-two years it was quite destroyed. Of the reign of two of his sons here is a short account; the former we find here a prisoner and the latter a tributary to the king of Egypt, and both so in the very beginning of their reign. This king of Egypt having slain Josiah, though he had not had any design upon Judah, yet, being provoked by the opposition which Josiah gave him, now, it should seem, he bent all his force against his family and kingdom. If Josiah's sons had trodden in his steps, they would have fared the better for his piety; but, deviating from them, they fared the worse for his rashness.
I. Jehoahaz, a younger son, was first made king by
the people of the land, probably because he was observed to be of a more active warlike genius than his elder brother, and likely to make head against the king of Egypt and to avenge his father's death, which perhaps the people were more solicitous about, in point of honour, than the keeping up and carrying on of his father's reformation; and the issue was accordingly. 1. He did ill,
2Kgs 23:32. Though he had a good education and a good example given him, and many a good prayer, we may suppose, put up for him, yet he
did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and, it is to be feared, began to do so in his father's lifetime, for his reign was so short that he could not, in that, show much of his character. He did
according to all that his wicked
fathers had done. Though he had not time to do much, yet he had chosen his patterns, and showed whom he intended to follow and whose steps he resolved to tread in; and, having done this, he is here reckoned to have done according to all the evil which those did whom he proposed to imitate. It is of great consequence to young people whom they choose to take for their patterns and whom they emulate. An error in this choice is fatal.
Phili 3:17,
Phili 3:18. 2. Doing ill, no wonder that he fared ill. He was but three months a prince, and was then made a prisoner, and lived and died so. The king of Egypt seized him, and put him in bands (
2Kgs 23:33), fearing lest he should give him disturbance, and carried him to Egypt, where he died soon after,
2Kgs 23:34. This Jehoahaz is that young lion whom Ezekiel speaks of in his
lamentation for the princes of Israel, that learnt to
catch the prey and devour men (that was the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord); but
the nations heard of him, he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains into the land of Egypt, Ezek 19:1-
Ezek 19:4. See
Jer 22:10-
Jer 22:12.
II. Eliakim, another son of Josiah, was made king by the king of Egypt, it is not said
in the room of Jehoahaz (his reign was so short that it was scarcely worth taking notice of), but
in the room of Josiah. The crown of Judah had hitherto always descended from a father to a son, and never, till now, from one brother to another; once the succession had so happened in the house of Ahab, but never, till now, in the house of David. The king of Egypt, having used his power in making him king, further showed it in changing his name; he called him
Jehoiakim, a name that has reference to Jehovah, for he had no design to make him renounce or forget the religion of his country. All people will walk in the name of their God, and let him do so. The king of Babylon did not do so by those whose names he changed,
Dan 1:7. Of this Jehoiakim we are here told, 1. That the king of Egypt made him poor, exacted from him a vast tribute of 100
talents of silver and a talent of gold (
2Kgs 23:33), which, with much difficulty, he squeezed out of his subjects and gave to Pharaoh,
2Kgs 23:35. Formerly the Israelites had spoiled the Egyptians; now the Egyptians spoil Israel. See what woeful changes sin makes. 2. That which made him poor, yet did not make him good. Notwithstanding the rebukes of Providence he was under, by which he should have been convinced, humbled, and reformed, he
did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (
2Kgs 23:37), and so prepared against himself greater judgments; for such God will send if less do not do the work for which they are sent.